Georgia: Oil pipelines at risk

The gas and oil pipelines that run through Georgia are of strategic importance
to Western Europe because they reduce dependence on Russian supplies and do
not cross Russian territory.

By Juliette Garside

9:57PM BST 09 Aug 2008

The gas and oil pipelines that run through Georgia are of strategic importance to Western Europe because they reduce dependence on Russian supplies and do not cross Russian territory.

Two major pipelines take supplies from the oil and gas fields in the Azeri region of the Caspian Sea through the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. From there they head south, away from the breakaway South Ossetia region and into Turkey, then onwards into the European Union.

Georgia and other transit states have an obligation to ensure the security of the pipelines that run through their territories.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, led by BP, was opened in 2006 and is capable of pumping one million barrels per day of Azeri crude along the 1,040-mile route to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. It is the first pipeline to carry large volumes of crude out of the Caspian without going through Russia. Yesterday Russian war planes dropped bombs near the pipeline, but caused no damage.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline, operated by BP and Norway's StatoilHydro, began gas exports to Turkey in 2007 and will be able to carry 20 billion cubic metres a year.

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Russia's vast natural reserves have allowed it to position itself as a rival to Middle Eastern nations in supplying energy to the West. However, its hostility to BP and Shell, which had supplied investment to begin exploiting its resources, have spurred Europe to look for alternatives. Russia demonstrated its might in January 2006 when it cut off gas supplies to Ukraine after a dispute over costs.

Ukraine not only relies on Russian supplies but is also a major pipeline route into Europe.